A spokesperson for Google, the world’s leading search engine, has told ACN that it will soon be opening an office in Egypt to concentrate on its Arabic services. The regional office in Cairo will be the first to open in the Middle East and will be headed by Sherif Iskander, the regional head for Google Middle East and North Africa. “We don’t have a definite date yet, but it’s going to be some time in November,” said the spokesperson. “We will do the Arabic content and market it as well. “[In] other locations like Morocco and maybe in the Gulf we’ll be having kind of a representative but not a main office.” She added: “Google is currently focusing a lot on the localisation of products in many languages in order to further fulfil its mission to organise the world’s information and make it universally useful and accessible.” In May, Google introduced a Gmail interface in Arabic, and now produces Google News in Arabic, enabling users to view the latest news headlines, as well as search and browse 500 Arabic news services in the Middle East. “People in the Middle East and other Arabic speakers globally will now be able to search and browse news in their native tongue,” said Dennis Woodside, director of emerging markets EMEA, Google. “The launch of Google News in Arabic demonstrates Google’s commitment to bring localised products to users across the globe.” The news comes as European search engine company Seekport, in partnership with Saudi firm Mitsco, prepares to launch a portal specifically for the Arabic language.